GORILLAZ The Singles Collection 2001–2011 [Virgin] Straight out of the cage, Gorillaz promised to be more than merely a high-concept art project. The “cartoon” rock band formed by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and animator Jamie Hewlett broke through in 2001 with “Clint Eastwood,” a heavy helping of spaghetti-western dub and meaty old-school hip-hop. Albarn sang with quintessentially British melancholy, but he couldn’t help but dream of the... 

NILS LOFGREN Old School [Vision Music] Among his fine work in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, stewardship of Grin and work alongside Neil Young on classics like Tonight’s the Night, Nils Lofgren once simultaneously enjoyed a prolific solo career. But as his day job as an E Streeter has taken up increasingly more of his time, devotees have been left hoping he’d step out more on his own—and Old School should satisfy those Lofgren loyalists.... 

MEDESKI, SCOFIELD, MARTIN & WOOD Live: In Case the World Changes Its Mind [Indirecto] Medeski, Martin & Wood, who’ve been redefining the jazz keyboard trio for a remarkable two decades now, first collaborated with guitar dynamo John Scofield in 1997 on the latter’s A Go Go album. Even then the match was ideal: Scofield’s probing, groove-infused licks and MMW’s future-funk worship made one another whole. Nearly a decade later, MSMW... 

THE DECEMBERISTS Long Live the King [Capitol] Even as they fail to hold together in one piece quite like this year’s full-length The King Is Dead, most of the songs on this six-track EP strike a fine balance between frontman Colin Meloy’s literary depth and some easily accessible tunes. The real keeper here is “Foregone,” on which Meloy’s love poetry is driven forward by a homey steel-guitar lick. Also on the simpler side are the Prince-ly... 

R.E.M. Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011 [Warner Bros.] With R.E.M.’s demise last fall the timing is perfect for this double-disc, chronologically arranged retrospective that makes a valiant, if lopsided, attempt to put the group’s three-decade run into perspective. Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage is the first R.E.M. compendium that surveys the full breadth of that career, from the mumbly, jangly early innovations... 

KELLY CLARKSON Stronger [RCA] Unlike most American Idol alumni, Kelly Clarkson has always set herself apart by generally placing artistry over histrionics. The pattern continues on her latest pop-rock collection, on which she wisely lends her impressive pipes to address purely emotional matters of the heart. On the opening “Mr. Know It All” she reminds us why she’s the queen of the kiss-off with a gritty delivery reminiscent of Melissa Etheridge... 

RYAN ADAMS Ashes & Fire [Pax-Am/Capitol] Ryan Adams recently took a two-year break from releasing new music, an eternity for a prolific singer and songwriter who put out 10 albums in the preceding eight years. Apparently refreshed, Adams returns with 11 songs that are among the best he’s written. That’s saying something given the sheer volume of Adams’ catalog, but he’s rarely equaled the poignant feeling of these tunes. His vivid lyrics... 

PATRICK STUMP Soul Punk [Island] If ever you needed proof that Fall Out Boy was primarily a vehicle for bass player Pete Wentz, one listen to the solo debut from lead singer Patrick Stump should convince you. Largely eschewing FOB’s driving power-pop, Stump lets his funk flag fly right away on the opening “Explode,” its propulsive electro-pop resembling some of his outside work with Cobra Starship or the Roots. Likewise, “This City” shows... 

REID PALEY AND BLACK FRANCIS Paley & Francis [Sonic Unyon Records] “I’ll bring down my foot on your daisy chain/I’ll have a drink from your jugular vein…” Given Black Francis’ reputation as a dark character, those lyrical musings from opening entry “Curse” would seem to affirm his ability to shock the heck out of his listeners. Joining forces with frequent collaborator Reid Paley, the former Frank Black (born Charles Thompson)... 

DARYL HALL Laughing Down Crying [Verve Forecast] When Daryl Hall tackles a solo project, it’s always interesting to hear how far he’ll stray from the sounds that made him and partner John Oates staples of pop radio. Hall’s fifth solo disc hews pretty closely to those styles. With production help from Greg Bieck (Jennifer Lopez, Destiny’s Child) and guitarist Paul Pesco, Laughing is an update, not a departure, despite the loping Americana beat... 

JANE’S ADDICTION The Great Escape Artist [Capitol] Two decades have passed since the first time pioneering alt-rock band Jane’s Addiction broke up, imploding from within via a variety of personality conflicts. Since 1997 the group has reunited in fits and starts with a series of bass players filling in for reluctant original member Eric Avery, including Flea, Martyn LeNoble, Duff McKagan and Chris Chaney. Avery finally rejoined the band in 2008,... 

FEIST Metals [Cherrytree/Interscope] What’s Leslie Feist been up to since her 2007 album The Reminder? Breaking up, from the sound of things on her latest. These songs play like letters from a broken heart, delivered in the Canadian singer’s typically understated style. Her drowsy voice—which works so well on the lovely offhand pop numbers for which she’s become known (“Mushaboom,” “1234”)—requires only a slight adjustment to sound... 

SUPERHEAVY SuperHeavy [Universal Republic] Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, Dave Stewart, Damian Marley and A.R. Rahman are billing themselves collectively as SuperHeavy, but the all-star quintet’s debut doesn’t quite earn them the label of supergroup. That criticism isn’t a knock on any of the album’s individual tracks. The first half could be the foundation for a perfectly fine, guest-heavy Marley record, and the last half would be adequate filler... 

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Hysterical [Red General] For a band whose very name implies hyperactivity, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have been surprisingly inactive for the last few years. Following a self-released 2005 debut that became an indie-rock sensation, the band released a hurried sophomore LP in 2007 before entering a self-imposed hibernation. That break led to the usual flurry of forgettable side projects, but now it’s back to business. Frontman... 

WILCO The Whole Love [dBpm/ANTI] Although its first seven minutes and last 12 minutes help to make The Whole Love Wilco’s boldest record since 2001’s landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, those opening and closing marathons are also familiar reminders of leader Jeff Tweedy’s wide emotional range. Amid the gloom of the opening “Art of Almost,” Tweedy is the dark-clothed loner with his head down. Yet he’s the same man who, on the closing “One... 

THE BEACH BOYS The SMiLE Sessions [Capitol] In a scene from the classic movie Citizen Kane, the character of Mr. Bernstein (played by Everett Sloane) rhapsodizes about a comely stranger he briefly spied from a distance some 45 years earlier. “I only saw her for one second,” he says. “She didn’t see me at all, but I’ll bet a month hasn’t gone by since that I haven’t thought of that girl.” There is no beauty quite so radiant as that... 

BJÖRK Biophilia [Nonesuch] Björk’s eighth solo release is not so much an album as the foundation of an ambitious multimedia project. Partly recorded on an iPad and released (in addition to traditional outlets) through 10 interactive apps, Biophilia boasts a lyrical thread drawing from biologist Edward O. Wilson’s ideas about the connections that humans subconsciously seek with the life that surrounds them. By fusing African-derived rhythms,... 

GEORGE BENSON Guitar Man [Concord Jazz] As the title of Guitar Man makes clear, George Benson has rediscovered his axe. Benson began his career as a hotshot jazz guitarist in the ’60s—then in the mid-’70s, he discovered he could sing. Switching gears, he became a pioneer of smooth jazz and has rarely looked back since. Guitar Man offers irrefutable proof that Benson can still play, although all too often he eschews the more nuanced, exploratory... 

MATTHEW SWEET Modern Art [Missing Piece] After a nearly 30-year career and the critical acclaim reaped by much-loved albums like Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, Matthew Sweet has earned his place among power-pop’s elite. His up-and-down fortunes have been dictated all too often by never-ending shifts in record-label affiliations, but each new album still brings an endlessly renewed sense of possibility. True to Sweet’s retro sensibilities,... 

THE JAYHAWKS Mockingbird Time [Rounder] The big news for fans of this quintessential alt-country band is that Mockingbird Time is the first new studio release since 1995 to feature the Jayhawks’ original co-frontmen, Gary Louris and Mark Olson. Reunions can be iffy, but the Jayhawks have marshaled their strengths and assembled a recording truly worthy of their stellar reputation. The omnipresent close harmonies, smart songcraft, instantly memorable... 

JUSTIN HINES Days to Recall [Decca] If “handicapped” is just a state of mind, then Canadian Justin Hines is as healthy as anyone. Born with Larsen syndrome, a disease that dislocates the joints and confines him to a wheelchair, he consistently exudes optimism on Days to Recall (his American debut and fourth album overall). With a voice that trumpets triumph and tenacity, he literally whoops his way through opening track “Just the Same” and... 

VARIOUS ARTISTS Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection [Phil Spector Records/Legacy] Phil Spector was never about albums. Monaural 7-inch 45s ruled his world, and with them he elevated the pop single to an art form. Give Spector three minutes and he—with the help of his handpicked, world-class songwriters, engineers, vocalists and musicians—could tell a story for the ages. Nonetheless, Spector did release albums on his own Philles... 

GEORGE STRAIT Here for a Good Time [MCA Nashville] George Strait sings “I’m not here for a long time, I’m here for a good time” on the title cut of his 39th studio album, but the fact is that he has been here for a long time. That’s not a knock; Strait has made a towering virtue out of consistency. The big news here is Strait’s continuing late-career development as a songwriter after three decades barely ever picking up a pen: He co-wrote... 

THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS Am I the Enemy [Collective Sounds] Florida’s Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has spent its career splitting the difference between the singsongy vocals of pop-punk and hoarse screaming and frenzied drum bursts of hardcore. The band’s latest further refines the formula on 11 songs that mix the personal and political. Opener “Salvation” tackles the former with an exhortation to persevere through teen angst, while the galloping... 

BUSH The Sea of Memories [Zuma Rock/eOne] By releasing the first album in 10 years under the Bush banner with a lineup that sports only one other returning member (drummer Robin Goodridge), frontman Gavin Rossdale runs the risk of alienating fans who treat ’90s triumphs like Sixteen Stone as gospel. But from the opening machine-gun snare of “The Mirror of the Signs” to the buzz-saw guitar counterpoint throughout, there’s no mistaking you’re... 

SUNNY SWEENEY Concrete [Big Machine] Smart storytelling songs with compelling melodies and rootsy but not anachronistic settings; dashes of wit amid adult settings involving cheaters and leavers and stayers. Singing that’s pitch-true without having been Auto-Tuned into submission. Ah, so it must be Americana, yes? No, Sunny Sweeney’s Concrete is a genuine contemporary country contender, released on a major label and already sporting a Top 10 country... 

THE RAPTURE In the Grace of Your Love [DFA] It’s been mere months since electronica standard-bearer LCD Soundsystem played its final show, but the void left by its absence is wide and deep. New York dance-punk band the Rapture steps boldly into that breach with its first album in five years—released, as it happens, on LCD leader James Murphy’s DFA label. Despite the 2009 departure of bassist Matt Safer, the band hasn’t changed much during... 

VARIOUS ARTISTS Motown Gold From the Ed Sullivan Show [UMe/Sofa] Consider this, if you will: Ed Sullivan belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Although hunched, puffy and decidedly unhip, he did more than any other to bring a generation’s worth of pop, rock and soul into America’s living rooms through his weekly Sunday-night TV variety program—most obviously Elvis and the Beatles, of course, but also a wealth of African-American performers... 

LESLIE WEST Unusual Suspects [Provogue Records] Mountain frontman Leslie West will forever be known for “Mississippi Queen,” a classic-rock staple that continues to inspire countless guitar wannabes with its searing intro and crushing riffs. Nothing on West’s new solo disc rises quite to that level, but his grasp of hard-hitting blues-rock remains as formidable as ever. Accompanied by a who’s who of guitar heroes including Joe Bonamassa, Billy... 

INDIGO GIRLS Beauty Queen Sister [Vanguard] The Indigo Girls’ music has always been marked by two distinct songwriting sensibilities: Amy Ray’s post-punk brashness and Emily Saliers’ more folk-inspired, laid-back vibe. That split-brain approach remains intact on the duo’s 14th studio album, but the tug of Saliers’ quieter style dominates. Soft-lit ballads and outdoorsy acoustic pop abound, nestled in rootsy instrumentation and a production... 

BOOK REVIEW EDDIE TRUNK Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal [Abrams Image] It’s almost impossible to keep from becoming jaded even on the periphery of the music business—especially when one is a popular radio DJ who hosts a TV show and is allowed access to the innermost rock circles. Still, Eddie Trunk is a fan first and foremost, and his enthusiasm for the music he loves comes through in this primer on the sounds that drew him... 

DVD REVIEW EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER 40th Anniversary Reunion Concert [MVD Entertainment Group] The members of progressive-rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer have never quite been able to keep away from one another, despite a constantly shifting series of internecine squabbles. The band broke up through the ’80s, but a steady stream of projects united at least two of the three; a ’90s reunion fell to pieces after a few years, but just... 

REISSUE REVIEW DEEP PURPLE Scandinavian Nights In Concert 1970-1972  Live in London MKIII: The Final Concerts [Eagle Rock Entertainment] By the time Deep Purple hit the 1970 show captured on Scandinavian Nights—one of four new double-CD re-releases of live material from that decade—the band had already seen a few changes, having enjoyed a pop hit (“Hush”), shuffled members and experimented with orchestral pieces. But the group’s classic... 

ROBERT ELLIS Photographs [New West] He may be only 22, but Houston native Robert Ellis displays an impressive ability to channel influential elders while nimbly shifting his own style. The first five songs on his debut find him in singer-songwriter mode a la the early ’70s, with Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Paul Simon and the Laurel Canyon crowd serving as obvious reference points. Mellow acoustic ballads with occasional strings offer the impression... 

RANDY MONTANA Randy Montana [Mercury Nashville] Clean-cut newcomer Randy Montana establishes himself as a genuine heir to the George Strait tradition on his self-titled debut. The 25-year-old New York native, as soft-spoken and mild-mannered as his obvious role model, owns a warm baritone and a winning knack for finding songs with indelible hooks. Montana, who co-wrote eight of the 11 tracks, spends a large chunk of the album on songs that express... 

THE KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND How I Go [Roadrunner] It’s been more than 15 years since a teenaged Kenny Wayne Shepherd burst onto the scene as a hotshot blues savior. In that time he’s continually proven himself as a guitarist and repeatedly shown his respect for tradition as well as a willingness to evolve beyond it. On most of How I Go Shepherd assuredly reaches for a bigger, slicker, harder rock sound. That’s clear from the first blazing... 

OLD 97’S The Grand Theatre Vol. 2 [New West] Like the Replacements before them, Old 97’s enjoy navigating that tricky line between brilliant songcraft and ramshackle execution. Following fast on the heels of its 2010 companion disc, Grand Theatre Vol. 2 picks up right where its predecessor left off. Opener “Brown Haired Daughter” sets the tone: Powered by hard-strummed acoustic guitars, a Crazy Horse-style solo and an exhilarating chorus,... 

ALKALINE TRIO Damnesia [Epitaph] Alkaline Trio has spent 15 years channeling heartbreak and righteous indignation into gut-punching pop-punk songs with the aid of electricity. On its eighth album the group unplugs and offers stripped-down versions of its best-loved tunes, as well as two new ones and a Violent Femmes cover. As longtime fans might have guessed, the Chicago band doesn’t need speed or distortion to get its material across. Singer and... 

GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS 2120 South Michigan Ave. [Capitol/EMI] George Thorogood has always acknowledged a heavy debt to Chess Records’ pioneering Chicago blues artists, but on 2120 South Michigan Ave. he and his Destroyers pay formal tribute to the trailblazing guitarists and songwriters who influenced him. An original, “Going Back,” kicks things off in spirited blues-boogie fashion, but it’s the Chess covers that shine brightest.... 

BURLAP TO CASHMERE Burlap to Cashmere [Essential/Jive] A breakout band on the contemporary Christian music scene thanks to their 1998 debut release Anybody Out There?, the folk-rockers in Burlap to Cashmere went on to win two Dove awards before going on hiatus in 2001. Drummer Theodore Pagano found unlikely acclaim as an interior designer, while guitarist John Philippidis was left in a month-long coma after a road-rage altercation in 2005. Philippidis... 

WILD FLAG Wild Flag [Merge] Between records and tours with their main bands—Sleater-Kinney, Helium and the Minders, among them—the members of supergroup Wild Flag have spent the last decade working together on various side projects, dabbling in everything from ’60s garage to ’90s alternative while always maintaining a punk-rock ethos. Given their curatorial passion for rock music, it’s fitting the ladies open Wild Flag’s debut with “Romance”... 

TOMMY KEENE Behind the Parade [Second Motion] You’d think that after 25 years of plying his trade, Tommy Keene might have run out of ideas—or worse, inspiration. After all, that’s an awfully long time to labor below the radar. But if Keene’s dismayed, there’s no evidence of it here. Behind the Parade is brimming with enthusiasm, as reflected in the earworm hooks and enticing melodies that have long since become his stock in trade. The muted... 

TORI AMOS Night of Hunters [Deutsche Grammophon] After a couple of missteps, Tori Amos gets back on track with Night of Hunters, a 14-song cycle that finds her adapting the music of classical composers to her own symbolism-packed mythical tale of a relationship gone sour. Throughout the course of her 11th studio effort—set to variations of works from Erik Satie, Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy, among others—Amos examines relationship recovery... 

O.A.R. King [Wind-up] O.A.R.’s seventh album showcases a self-assured band at the height of its creative powers. Frontman Marc Roberge and company offer up a healthy dose of kinetic reggae grooves, with bright splashes of horns and other colorations. Longtime fans will welcome the return of the Wanderer, the fictional narrator of their early work, on the opening title track. The bouncy acoustic opening of “Taking on the World Today” conveys... 

RICKY SKAGGS Country Hits Bluegrass Style [Skaggs Family] In the 1980s, Ricky Skaggs ruled the country music roost, scoring 19 Top 10 hits—a whopping 11 of them chart-toppers—as the masses fleetingly embraced country traditionalism. Once radio lost interest, the man who had earned his stripes as a youth playing behind legends like Ralph Stanley returned to his native bluegrass and has remained there ever since. Now the Kentucky native and mandolin... 

SONNY ROLLINS Road Shows, Vol. 2 [Doxy/Emarcy] Without a doubt the most buzzed-about jazz concert of 2010 in New York City was Sonny Rollins’ 80th birthday celebration, held last September at the Beacon Theatre. Road Shows, Vol. 2 offers four selections from that gig—only a fraction of it, unfortunately—and tosses in a couple more from a Tokyo show. Rollins’ chops have yet to diminish one iota, as he remains an imaginative player whose gift... 

PISTOL ANNIES Hell on Heels [Columbia Nashville] Miranda Lambert recently enlisted friends and fellow singer-songwriters Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley to form the old-school trio Pistol Annies, an opportunity to shake off her superstar status for a while and showcase the considerable talents of her lesser-known bandmates. True to Lambert’s spitfire image, the characters in Hell on Heels encompass several species of bad girl: In the title track... 

DREAM THEATER A Dramatic Turn of Events [Roadrunner] Legions of Dream Theater fans were dismayed when drummer (and founding member) Mike Portnoy and the band parted ways last year. Never fear—with new drummer Mike Mangini behind the kit, the veteran prog-metal ensemble sounds re-energized, engaged and focused on songwriting in ways not heard since 2002’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. On the harder side of the ledger, songs such as “On the... 

BUTCH WALKER AND THE BLACK WIDOWS The Spade [Dangerbird] Butch Walker has been putting out catchy pop-punk records for years, yet he’s probably more famous as a producer and songwriter (his credits include Weezer, Pink and Avril Lavigne) than as a performer. The Spade is his most infectious effort yet, so if it fails to turn him into a breakout star you can blame it on the sorry fact that few artists suddenly make it on the radio after 40. Just... 

MATES OF STATE Mountaintops [Barsuk] Thirteen years and seven albums in, Mates of State—the married duo of keyboardist Kori Gardner and drummer Jason Hammel—still sound like lovestruck teens on their latest self-produced effort. Their voices volley back and forth among bouncing, bubbling synth lines, crashing cymbals and lyrics like “You’re a pot of gold and you’re sitting at the rainbow’s edge” (from the girl group–inspired “Total...